Microsoft is raising prices of Office 365, with the Enterprise Agreement (EA) E1, E3 and E4 and government SKUs affected by the price increase. The price hike begins in August and will increase pricing around 15 percent, focused on customers that don't have a Software Assurance (SA) plans.

"The vast majority of our customers will not see an increase in the cost of Office 365. All existing Office 365 EA customers are guaranteed prices will not change for the duration of their agreement," a Microsoft spokesperson said. "New Office 365 EA customers who don't have a previous investment in our products will see an increase to align our pricing to our other channels."

When Office 365 was first launched, and business users were still unsure if they wanted to move into the cloud, there were many confusing SKUs. Microsoft trimmed back on the number of SKUs, and its value-added resellers (VARs) are more comfortable recommending the appropriate plan for their clients.